SEPTEMBER 23, 2026
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Case File

CVE-2026-42959

HIGH · CVSS 7.5 EPSS 0.78%

Source: NVD + CISA KEV + EPSS (historical backfill) · Published 2026-05-20 · Last synced 2026-08-04

CyberRota Analysis

This is a high severity vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.5. It may lead to a denial-of-service condition.

CVE
CVE-2026-42959
Severity
HIGH
CVSS
7.5
EPSS
0.78%

Original NVD Description

NLnet Labs Unbound up to and including version 1.25.0 has a denial of service vulnerability in the DNSSEC validator that can lead to a crash given malicious upstream replies. When Unbound constructs chase-reply messages for validation, the code uses the wrong counter to calculate write offsets for ADDITIONAL section rrsets. DNAME duplication could increase the ANSWER section count and authority filtering could decrease the AUTHORITY section count and create an uninitialized array slot. Combining these two, the validator later dereferences this uninitialized pointer, causing an immediate process crash. An adversary controlling a DNSSEC-signed domain can trigger this bug with a single query by configuring a DNAME chain with unsigned CNAMEs and a response containing unsigned AUTHORITY records alongside signed ADDITIONAL glue records. Unbound 1.25.1 contains a patch with a fix to use the proper counters to calculate the write offsets.

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